LAGOS – Health experts on Wednesday urged Nigerians to take preventive measures to reduce the chances of developing cardiovascular diseases, especially heart attacks.[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”10″]
In separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos they said that cardiovascular diseases were among the major killer diseases globally.
A Consultant Cardiologist, Dr Sanya Olusegun-Joseph, who works with the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), said that “cardiovascular diseases, especially heart attack, is on the rise globally.
“It is also on the increase in Nigeria and our lifestyle may be attributed to be the number one cause.
“Also, sedentary lifestyle is on the rise as well as increase in salt consumption, fatty meat, high calorie diet and sugary stuff.
“Then, lot of fast food restaurants that use salt condiments are springing up everywhere now and with people patronising them excessively.
“In this part of the world, stress, poverty, lack of basic amenities, insecurity, the quest to make a living, as well sedentary lifestyle are on the rise.
“People do not exercise any longer and so, all these culminating together gives rise to more cases of sudden death as a result of heart attack,” Olusegun-Joseph said.
According to him, another thing is that obesity, even teenage and childhood obesity are also on the increase in Nigeria.
The cardiologist said: “We need to take our health and lifestyle seriously.
“The risky lifestyle also has to be played down like excessive consumption of sugary food, high calorie diet, fatty meat which can impact on people’s on health.
“People should also learn to unwind. We should cultivate the habit of appreciating nature, going on vacations and generally finding a positive way to ease off stress.
“Then, people need to regularly go to check their blood pressure, blood sugar, urine and other vital signs.
“This will enable early detection of the onset of the symptoms of some of these diseases,’’ Olusegun-Joseph advised.
Also, Dr Anthony Ezechukwu, a physician said: “Heart diseases are not only for fat and obese people.
“Thin people can also have it though being overweight gives one greater chances of being predisposed to developing it.
“High blood pressure increases the workload of the heart and kidneys thereby increasing the risk of heart attack, heart failure, stroke and kidney disease.
Ezechukwu said that a number of factors could predispose one to develop heart attack.
“There are many factors that predispose one to developing heart diseases such as increasing age, male gender, family history, lifestyle, and diet pattern.
“One needs to maintain body weight that will be syncronise with the Body Mass Index (BMI) as well as generally engage in regular exercises.
“Diet is also important in the care of the heart, especially diets that are rich in vegetables, legumes, fruits and whole grains are recommended. Fish and nuts are also very good.
“Water consumption is also very critical. People should drink clean water regularly not only for the heart but for the entire body system,’’ he said. (NAN)
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